Blog & Articles

WHO HIRES AND FIRES ME?

Whether you like it or not to be a successful full-time musician you have to learn to sell your skill and sometimes that of others to win a contract or a gig. Don't fool yourself into thinking that because you can play three million notes in your ten second solo that that alone will secure you work. Note well that more often than not, the person that has the last say in hiring you is probably not a musician!
You need to be able to present your...

"SIZE DOESN'T MATTER..."

IT'S HOW YOU USE IT THAT COUNTS
Not something guys really want to hear. In terms of repertoire size though, it is a useful phrase to remember.
How big should my... repertoire be?
Most people wish something in their life to be a little bigger, for musicians breaking into the Top 40 scene it is usually their repertoire. A big repertoire imbues you with confidence, it impresses people, and it adds a huge amount of respectability to you and ...

HOW TO CHOOSE SONGS FOR YOUR REPERTOIRE

Start your Engines:
One of the most difficult things that musicians are confronted with is choosing songs that will appeal to a crowd. In most cases your choice of songs will be defined by the following guidelines:
1. The type of gig you are going to be playing
2. Your musical ability
What's the Gig?
To address the first guideline is fairly easy. Although this may seem fairly obvious to seasoned professionals, for the newbie's out ther...

SAVE MONEY ON YOUR PHOTO SHOOTS

Photo shoots, taking pictures, mug shots whatever you want to call it we have to do them at some stage or another. Like it or not, you will have to have your picture taken and used in promoting yourself or your group or both.
The importance of adding photos to your promotional material, press kits, websites, job advertisements etc cannot be overstated. Many musicians hate the idea of having their picture taken or having to dress up for a photo...

MUSICIANS, GET YOURSELF SOME REFERENCES...NOW!

References defined:
Having references from reputable firms or well-known sources can greatly increase your chances of cooking the competition when pitching yourself to potential clients. If you don't know what a reference is here is brief outline relevant to musicians.
"A written statement about how you performed at a given venue"
A special point to note is that it doesn't necessarily have to contain only references to your onstage abiliti...

THE THREE ULTIMATE PRACTICE TIPS

There are so many elements to address on the road to being considered a good musician. Let's focus on what is perhaps the most fundamental of all- practice.
Let's face it- practicing is the first thing we begin to do when our musical odyssey begins. The following tips do not contain mantras that say "Thou shalt practice for 18 hours per day until thy fingers bleed' or that you must practice XYZ scales or arpeggios. Rather, it is a vessel which...

FIVE HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE MUSICIANS.

1. Build a dream, write it down, and look at it each day. Without a well-defined dream, vision quest, goal or whatever you want to call it you may well find that you lose focus and direction and end up squandering much of your time. Try to write your goals down using SMART criteria
2. Do something each day that brings you a little bit closer to achieving your dream. As a musician this could be as simple as practicing, adding a new musical fr...

RIGHT ACTIONS = RIGHT PEOPLE

A STORY FROM JOSH?
- I am going to discuss what I believe to be the single most important action that I took to journey from a semi-professional musician to an international, full-time, touring musician.
In brief, I advertised myself on a website. There was a section for musicians available and a sub-section for guitarists.
I posted a brief description of my qualifications, experience and work ethic, and a picture.
I had essentially k...

BE A PRO, NOT A SCHMO!

A STORY FROM JOSH
Recently, a good friend of mine sent me a message on Facebook. My friend is an established musician. She has travelled the world playing Top 40s music and she has also just released some of her own original music. Her message to me outlined her utter disbelief at the lack of professionalism displayed by a lot of musicians out there. She asked me if I could write an article about her experience. So here it is.
The Case of the...

VERSATILITY EQUALS EMPLOYABILITY

In the competitive world we live in there seems to be a never-ending battle to find good work opportunities. An almost constant pressure to up-skill and improve your abilities, education, or work experience envelops us in its unrelenting grip.
As a working musician or a musician that is aspiring to be working what can you do to add-value to yourself? One way is to be versatile. Versatility has many guises. Let's explain.
What band leaders tend...

THE TEN QUESTIONS

The life of a full-time touring musician is rather unique among occupations in this world. It can be an extremely rewarding job full of variety and surprises. On the other hand, it can be quite a lonely and treacherous path to travel too.While on the road, most musicians have experienced amazing highs and lows, euphoria and fatalism, trials and tribulations, and at various times have loved and loathed the work. In some respects we all have, irres...

USE A RELIABLE AGENCY

Perhaps one of the most highly contested issues regarding working as a full-time musician, or more importantly transitioning into full-time work as a musician, is whether or not you should use the services of an agency.
The Pros of using an agency are numerous. Let's outline what many musicians and performers believe to be the greatest advantages of using a reliable agency.
1. Reputation. If you are a relative newcomer on the pro music scen...

PLAY MUSIC FOR A LIVING?

So many musicians want to use their musical skills to pay the bills. We'd prefer to chuck in our dreary day jobs in favor of fulfilling our ambition to play tasty solos, or lay down killer drum grooves with the band.
Sadly, many musicians never quite break the chains of that day job. They may be playing several times a week but somehow its just not earning enough to allow them to quit their job and play music exclusively.
The perfect transi...

The experience of a lifetime

If you, like I once was, are considering joining a musical ensemble on the Asian/Middle Eastern Hotel circuit, here are a few pointers to help you make a sound decision. But first, who am I and why should you read the information I'm about to provide you with?

My name is Jonathan, (aka JC) and I started touring back in 2005 and finished my last tour in 2012. I gave well over 2,000 shows with four different bands in over a dozen of count...